The outdoor plaza between the newly renovated Prairie Capital Convention Center’s lobby and the building’s parking lot will be known as the BOS Plaza due to a $90,000, two-year sponsorship from Bank of Springfield approved Monday by the center’s board.

Summer concerts and other events that might be centered around wine-tasting or specialty foods are among possible uses for the plaza, said general manager Brian Oaks.

The board also approved one-year sponsorships Monday, including $12,500 from Evan Lloyd Architects, the Springfield firm that designed the $16 million renovation of the center that is nearly complete, for signs in the main hall; and $10,000 from Ameren Illinois, for having its name on concrete column “wraps” in the main hall. Also approved was receipt of $1,000 for temporary signs that a Springfield restaurant, Westwoods Lodge Pub and Grill, had at two recent events at the center.

Oaks said in the past, there have been beer and soda sponsors indoors.

“We had initially held off doing (other) sponsorships as we got through the renovation process,” Oaks said, “because we wanted to make sure that we were offering a product that was going to have return on investment for our partners. So now, coming out of renovation, we’re really excited that people see the same value that we do in exposure to the 350,000 people a year who come through the building.”

In a news release, Shawn Mayernick, director of business partnerships at the convention center, thanked Bank of Springfield for the $45,000-a-year sponsorship.

“Having this one-of-a-kind outdoor area gives us the opportunity to add events that will help us increase our economic impact,” Mayernick said. “In the past, we were slower in warm weather months as people want to enjoy outdoor entertainment. Now we have that outdoor destination with BOS Plaza.”

Oaks said money from sponsorships will help the center’s bottom line.

“This is part of our long-range plan to try and make sure that we’re able to, on an annual basis, invest into capital improvements,” Oaks said, “and now that we have this nice, renovated facility, make sure that we’re continually keeping it up and making it a product that Springfield can be proud of.”

Mike Coffey Jr., chairman of the center’s board, said he was “very excited” with the sponsorships coming in and “extremely impressed” with the role of Mayernick and Oaks selling those sponsorships. On Coffey’s motion, the board also approved paying commissions to those officials as checks clear. As approved earlier by the board, Mayernick gets 10 percent of sponsorship amounts, and Oaks gets 5 percent.

Also Monday, on a motion from member Gregory Sronce, the board decided to take proposals for future annual audits of the center’s finances, as the same firm has done audits for years.

Page 2 of 2 - Sronce said he had no complaints about the existing firm, Eck, Schafer & Punke of Springfield, but for public entities and businesses alike, having different companies do audits over time is “just a good checks-and-balances approach to keeping your books in order.”